The Power of Premonition
by Dr. Magic PhD
Summary: Episode 9 of the 'Complete' series: With the first semester of college already under way, the Complete are struggling to attend different campuses while still finding a way to keep fighting demons, all without their magical Book of Light...
1. Problems, Problems!

_Hey, everybody, this Wesley. Here is the beginning of the second episode of the second season of the 'Complete' series. It, like everything else I'm doing, is a work in progress, so it might change as I continue to write it. I'll try to get it done as efficiently as possible, but, as usual, I promise nothing!_

* * *

"_Let the object of objection return,  
So that its existence may be reaffirmed."_

Wesley stepped away from the Book of Light, wondering if the spell he had just cast would be effective. He waited alongside his brothers for some sort of sign to signal that everything had worked. The more they waited, however, the less hopeful they became. Matthew finally grabbed the Book and flipped through it, confirming that the spell had in fact not worked.

"You didn't really think that a spell you got off some TV show would work, did you?" Matthew snapped at Wesley.

"I'm sorry," Wesley said defensively, "but none of your spells have worked! These are desperate times, man! Besides, _Charmed_ has some good spells!"

"That's pretend," James said, siding with Matthew, as usual. "This is real life."

"Please," Wesley said under his breath.

"Well," James said, "I guess we have to come up with something else to make the words in the Book reappear."

"Well that's just not possible!" Matthew exclaimed, flipping through the Book of Light. "Words just can't…disappear!"

"They can and they did," James said with a tone that held both reassurance and uneasiness.

Matthew continued to ignore James' words of reassurance and kept flipping through the Book of Light, the centuries old spell book that had been passed down to him and his brothers. He carefully looked at every single page, hoping that whatever had happened was some stupid magic trick that was easily fixable, but every time he came to the conclusion that something terrible had actually caused the words in their most prized possession to disappear. He briefly put the empty Book down and shook his head before continuing.

He had been having these brief instances of dizziness and light-headedness for a while now. He couldn't explain why, and neither could his brothers, but he certainly wasn't sick. He felt fine. He had even gone to the school clinic to get some kind of explanation, but he only heard what he had expected to hear: it was all in his head.

"You okay?" Wesley asked.

"Yeah," Matthew answered. "Just another dizzy spell."

"Maybe it's exhaustion," James suggested. "You've been spending all your time going from the Book to homework to your job to anything else not fun."

"He's right, you know," Wesley agreed.

"I'm fine now," Matthew said. "Besides, this is a very important issue here. If we don't hurry up and get to the bottom of it, we could die."

"I'm too young for that," Wesley said.

It had been about a month since the incident had happened. At that time, the three brother witches had joined their evil counterparts, the Council, in order to defeat Sabo, a magical being who had sought to bring an end to the world. Since then, September had rolled around and things had never been the same for the Complete. Demons and warlocks and other malicious creatures continued to attack them relentlessly, much more than usual. Without the aid of their Book of Light, though, they remained at a serious disadvantage, one that could ultimately cost them their lives if they weren't careful enough. Luckily, they had managed to vanquish all threats against them, but their victories were only by the narrowest of margins.

Now, with the added stress of classes, things had become more difficult for the brothers. Moreover, with James having matriculated over to the main campus of Emory University, forty miles away from Oxford College, where Matthew and Wesley still attended, it had become increasingly harder to organize plans and, in general, get things done.

At this point, James, the oldest of the three siblings, was able to move things with his mind, an offensive ability connected to his aggressive personality. Over the past year, his power had grown to the point where he could literally sweep people off their feet, or even throw them forcefully away from him, which usually was the case when he was being attacked. In addition, he had developed a secondary power, that to clone himself, although he could only partially control the new ability. His was considered the strongest power of the three brothers, and he was often called on to use his powers the most.

The middle brother, Matthew, had the power to alter his body density to either extreme. Known as phasing, this special ability gave him the option to either pass through solid objects, such as walls or doors, or to become as solid as steel. His power, having the possibility to go both ways, reflected his calm demeanor and middle-of-the-road role in the trio. His power could be seen as both offensive and defensive, and it had definitely been used in both cases.

Wesley, the youngest of the three, and half-brother to the others, had had plenty of chances to refine his power to stop time; after a year he could choose to freeze certain objects or people, as long as they were susceptible to his power. However, his power, being derived from his instinctive nature to panic, more often than not was used as his defense mechanism. After a good deal of soul searching on his part, he had discovered that not only was he James and Matthew's half-brother, but that he could virtually teleport himself from one place to another by means of glimmering. He would disappear in a shower of blue and white lights and appear somewhere of his choosing…in an ideal situation. He had not had the power for long, and given his instinctive nature, he couldn't control this second power at all; it only happened in times of extreme panic.

And now they sat, in the house willed to them by their parents in a suburb of Atlanta called Buckhead. They sat, completely baffled by this new problem that had arisen. The question that was going through all of their minds was, _how could this have happened_? No matter how many times they retraced their steps, none of them could accurately pinpoint the exact moment when everything went downhill.

"Well if you ask me," Wesley expressed himself, "it all went downhill when we signed on to become witches in the first place. Whoever heard of witches living in the real world, anyway? Especially _male_ witches?"

"Don't start that again," Matthew said. "Every time something goes wrong, you blame it on becoming a witch. 'Go back to our normal lives.' 'Abandon the whole witch thing.' That's your answer for everything. It's not gonna happen."

"And nobody asked you, anyway," James added.

"So what, now you're on _his_ side?" Wesley asked provocatively.

"No," James said. "I'm just saying…"

"People!" Matthew shouted, sensing an imminent argument. "We have enough problems as it is. I've got a ton of homework to do, I have to go work at the Writing Center in a couple hours, it's Sunday evening, and oh, I forgot to mention that our Book of Light is missing its words!"

"If we stopped arguing," Wesley asked calmly, "would that shut you up?"

"It better," James added, then changing his tone. "Listen, I know how tense things have been around here for the past month. School's back in and this is the only time that we can regularly see each other since I'm taking classes at the main campus now. It's hard, but at least we have all have this house as a common ground. We need to all calm down and try to put our heads together. I'm sure the answer is right in our faces, but we're too busy fighting with each other to notice."

"But the answer could be anything," Wesley protested. "We've gone through this for days now. Whatever the answer is, it's anything but in our faces."

"And all this looking for it has taken a toll on my sleeping habits," Matthew said. "I'm going to take a little nap. Wake me up in an hour."

"What's wrong with him?" Wesley asked James innocently as he pointed at Matthew, who was making a beeline upstairs to his bedroom.

"Who knows?" James replied. "Probably needs to get laid."

"Agreed," Wesley said, smiling. "Meanwhile, how's life at the "Big E? We've never really had time to catch up on old times."

"What old times?" James asked. "We've been living here for a month already!"

"Fine," Wesley said. "_You _try starting a conversation, then."


	2. All In His Head

_I'm gonna send a quick shout out to the people who have reviewed the first chapter of the story! I can't tell y'all how much I appreciate it!_

_**Raya:** It was pretty freaky about your last review for the first story…I guess things just have a weird way of happening sometimes. That, or you used some kind of magic of your own…_

_**chyp:** The ice thing was just a power Wesley had in the altered future. He doesn't have it now, at least not that I know of… But I'm glad that you're paying attention! It means you've really read the stories!_

_**Corey:** Thanx for your review, and for the idea. If I remember correctly, you've reviewed other stories of mine, right? Your spells are pretty good, and I'd like to get your input on some stuff I'm thinking about for future stories. Keep in touch!_

* * *

"They suspect nothing," Anamalech, one of the five members of the Council, stated to the rest of his cohorts. "They have no idea."

"Perfect," Tenebrion, another Council member said. "With the contents of their Book of Light in our possession, we will finally be able to rid ourselves of the Complete once and for all."

The five members of the Council sat in their usual chamber, settled in their usual seats around their pentagram-shaped table. They were the most evil beings in the demonic hierarchy. They were the ones all other demons and warlocks feared. The sheer mention of their power alone was enough to rattle the bones of any opposition. Now they sat, in their mysterious chamber, discussing the usual news, which involved ways to destroy the Complete, their sworn enemies. In their eyes, evil was destined to reign supreme in the end, but the Complete stood as a potential threat to that prophecy. To realize their intentions, the three magical brothers had to be killed at all costs.

They had last confronted each other a month earlier, not as enemies, but as allies, fighting a common enemy that had proved to be a threat not only to both good and evil, but to all of mankind as well. In that battle, however, their evil side shone through and they were able to trick the brothers into allowing them to steal the contents of their spell book through a simple spell. Although they now had the powers of the Book of Light at their disposal, there was still the problem of it being protected against evil for them to resolve.

"We still cannot gain access to it," Ardad said. He held a second book in addition to their own magical tome, called the Book of Shadows. This second book contained all of the information that had been written in the Complete's Book of Light. Whenever he tried to open it, however, the cover of the book would automatically slam shut and repel itself away from any of the Council members. "Because the information contained in this book is still connected to the brothers, it is still protected from our kind."

"Keep trying," Anamalech said. "We have only the words, not the actual Book. Our magic should be able to overcome this obstacle."

* * *

"_We have been trying for one month,"_ _says Andras_.

"_We must try harder!" explains Mastiphal._ _"We cannot let this valuable resource go to waste."_

"_At the very least," explains Anamalech,_ _"we are still at an advantage. Though we cannot access the contents, neither can the brothers."_

The words kept coming from the Council's mouths and reverberating through the air. The conversation seemed to repeat itself again and again, the words becoming clearer and clearer. Soon, images began to flash alongside the words. They were very brief images, showcasing only bits and pieces of the looping conversation. Suddenly, as the words "neither can the brothers" made themselves audible, Matthew awoke with a jerk, having felt as if he had just had been holding his breath underwater, struggling for air.

He jolted upright in his bed, looking around to compare his surroundings with the ones he had seen in this dream, or was it even a dream? Now that he was awake, he could only recall small bits of what he thought he had seen and heard in his mind. As he thought about it more and more, though, the images seemed to become more real and he became more sure of himself that what had happened was more than just a dream. It was too coincidental not to be.

He suddenly felt light-headed and the room looked like it was going in and out of focus. He closed his eyes to try and clear his head, but instead of seeing the darkness of his mind, he saw more images. _He sees himself looking at his watch. It reads 7:52pm. Then Wesley knocks on his door to some random rhythm, as usual, before opening it. He looks at Matthew and says, 'Aren't you supposed to be sleep?'_ Then he opened his eyes and shook his head. No, he thought to himself. It couldn't be, could it? Bracing himself, he looked at the clock on his desk to see the time. It read 3:18am. Then he remembered; that clock's batteries had died a long time ago. Perhaps it was time to replace them. He looked at the watch on his arm. Just as he thought, it was 7:52pm. He looked at the door and waited for the knocking, which came just seconds after looking at his watch. Wesley walked in and saw Matthew, who by this point was looking utterly confounded.

"Hey," he said to Matthew, "aren't you supposed to…"

"…be sleep?" Matthew said along with Wesley. "I…knew…you were gonna say that."

"Well," Wesley replied, "_aren't_ you? I know how you are about sleeping. Anyway, wake up and get to work."

Wesley walked out of the room and back downstairs. Matthew thought that he had gone crazy, but after fifteen minutes of sitting on his bed and thinking everything through, he eventually decided that it was all just a strong bout of déjà vu.


	3. Deja Vu? I Think Not!

_Yesterday was "Culture Day" in Japan, so thankfully we all got the day off! It kind of sucked, though, because it was on a Thursday, which means I have to work today and then get the weekend! The only thing worse is if the holiday is on a Wednesday, which it will be in about 2 weeks…_

_**chyp:** What can I say? Thanx! You're a man of few words…_

_**Raya: **Matt does seem quite 'dense' about it. Could be because of the relative 'newness' of the situation. Could be because he's in denial. Could be anything… As far as the Book is concerned, I won't tell any lies…_

* * *

The next day, the brothers began their daily split, as they had been doing since school started. James left the house for the main campus, Emory College, while Matthew and Wesley went to Oxford College. Things at Oxford were more or less the same. The two brothers shared a dorm room again, this time in another residential building, Dowman Hall. They were among the lucky few who managed to get a rather large room located on the end of the hall. Matthew also found it convenient that they were on the first floor. He hated to climb stairs all the time.

Wesley sat through another boring lecture of Modern History 201, watching the clock intensely, trying to will it to move faster. The rebellious red secondhand, however, only seemed to move backwards as if it were intentionally trying to torture Wesley. On and on the professor droned while everyone silently scribbled notes. In his routine manner, Wesley quietly cursed the school for making History a part of the General Requirements as he joined the rest of the scribblers. He hated history for all it was worth, which was nothing in his opinion. So many dates to remember, so many events to recall, so many laws, so many Acts, so many people… The class went on.

Matthew sat diligently at his desk as the class discussed Shakespeare's _Macbeth_. Throughout the class, Matthew was having strange sensations whenever he touched anything. Once, he had dropped his pencil and a friend of his, Michael Eiland, handed it to him. The moment he took the pencil back, the familiar dizziness returned and when he closed his eyes to regain focus, he saw faint images that looked like traces of Michael. _He is playing basketball in the gym. He goes for a lay up and trips over his feet. He falls to the floor, clutching his ankle…_ But Michael usually played in the evenings… Another time, Dr. Schultz had shaken his hand to commend him on a well-spoken answer, but the moment their hands touched, Matthew's mind was jerked back into this new world of black and white images, racing across his eyes and leaving as quickly as they had come. _Dr. Schultz is driving home, but is particularly early. She walks into the kitchen and sees her husband "entertaining" another woman on the kitchen counter. She screams…_ He shook his head vigorously and tried his best to keep calm as he shook the professor's hand. The rest of the class went that way. He had never felt so…so…intrusive. He kept his hands to himself and as soon as the class was over, he hurried outside the room, but not before he had a chance to talk to Dr. Schultz.

"Great lesson," he said to her. "Have a nice afternoon."

"Thank you, Mr. Hart," Dr. Schultz said. "You, too."

"Are you getting a divorce?" he asked boldly.

"Why yes," she replied. "How did you know that?"

"Um," he thought quickly, "I could tell on your face. My, uh, parents went through the same thing. Just be prepared when you go home today."

With that, he hurried out of the room before she could ask him anything else. He also found Michael and advised him to really watch his step when he played basketball later that day. In addition, he told Michelle Trumble not to order pizza that evening, he cautioned Austin Webb against driving to McDonald's, and warned Holly Rippe that she should get someone to look at her sink faucet…as soon as possible.

* * *

James had been having some difficulty in his Chemistry 353 class. Organic Chemistry was proving to be a much more difficult subject than he had wanted. The professor, Dr. Gilkeson, had been nothing short of uncooperative since the beginning of the semester. He answered people's questions briefly and vaguely, often without repeating anything. He expected the students to already know half of what was in the textbook. Worst of all, he had an extremely strict attendance policy. After three absences, unexcused or excused, he would lower a student's grade by two letters. Even more frustrating was the fact that of the other three professors who taught the same subject, one was on maternity leave, another was on paternity leave (he was married to the first), and the third was on sabbatical doing research.

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday was a challenge for James. It was a large class due to the lack of other professors. James had trouble adjusting to the larger class sizes. At Oxford, there were never more than twenty-five students in a class. Now, he was fighting for a passing grade with one hundred fifty other students in a large auditorium-sized lecture hall, although no other students seemed to be having as much trouble as him.

"Read the next three chapters for Wednesday," Dr. Gilkeson shouted over the noise of the students as the clock struck three o'clock.

"Why did I ever take this class?" James asked his friend, Adam Toenes.

"Because we need this class to get a degree," Adam responded. "Besides, it's not that bad."

"Well," James said, "not to the smartest kid in the class who already knows everything. To the rest of us regular people, though…"

"Calm down," Adam said. "I know what you mean. He's young. This is only his first year teaching. Give the man a break."

"He should be giving _us_ a break," James said. "There has to be something about him you outright hate. Actually, there's something about him that's not quite right."


	4. Strange News & Mourning

_Well here's the next chapter of the story! I hope it lives up to y'all's expectations!_

_**chyp:** Glad you thought it was 'cool.'_

_**Raya: **Not so ominous, James' sentence. And yes, 'yay, Matt's powers are growing!'. I should only hope that by now he's figured out that this is the real deal and not just some weird déjà vu stuff going on… And I'd agree with Wesley that History is an absolutely dreadful subject…pure bollocks…_

* * *

"I mean," Adam said, "he's kind of insensitive to what's been going on at school. But I guess nobody really knows how to deal with that."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"Haven't you been watching TV and reading the paper?" Adam asked, puzzled by the fact that James was unaware of what he was mentioning. "Students have been disappearing from classes for days at a time with no explanation. Then, when they come back, they're…I don't know…reckless."

"What do you mean 'reckless'?" James asked.

"I mean that they carry on like they don't care what happens to them or anybody else," Adam said.

"I'd feel that way too after missing a few classes with Gilkeson," James said.

"It's more than that," Adam explained. "This is like a kind of vengeful recklessness, if that makes any sense.

"I guess," James said, looking at his watch. "Well, I guess I better go. If I don't get started on this homework he's assigned, I might be the next reckless one in this class."

He parted ways with Adam and set off to the library. It was a fifteen minute walk, one he had gotten quite used to since arriving on the notably larger campus. He picked up a copy of the school newspaper, _The Emory Wheel_, and continued on to an empty table in an isolated part of the bottom floor. He did his usual momentary glance at the front page; there didn't seem to be anything worth reading, as usual. He pulled out the oversized Organic Chemistry book, a yellow highlighter, and began the daunting task of reading over a hundred pages of information that he would most likely not understand.

* * *

It was a nice enough day, so Wesley decided to detour and take a stroll through Turner Lake Park, located just outside of the town of Oxford, Georgia. It was a very nice park, larger than one would think. It was full of natural beauty; there were majestic magnolias towering smaller, yet prominent oak trees. Being the beginning of fall, some of the leaves on the trees had begun the transition from green to red, brown, gold, and orange, making the scene look like something out of a picture book. Wesley found a quiet bench and sat there, thinking about a lot of things he hadn't had very much time to think about over the past month.

The main thing was John, the mysterious Guardian who had somewhat guided him and his brothers on and off for the past year, after they discovered they were witches. He thought about John's similar personality to his own, about his seemingly inept ability as a Guardian, about his expansive and infinite knowledge on various demons. Then his mind switched to his untimely and horrifying death at the hands of Sabo, the all-powerful demon that they had to fight alongside the Council only a month ago. Although he had not been there all the time, John had become something of a father figure to Wesley. It was a long shot and stretch of the imagination, though. Wesley admired John's candor and blunt honesty. It made him think a lot about his own behavior, which wasn't too far from John's.

He realized that despite everything that had happened since he died, he never really had any time to mourn for John. Even if he wasn't Wesley's father, he was still his friend. He sat in the park for quite a while and silently prayed for John's well-being wherever he was.

* * *

"Anybody home?" Matthew asked as he walked into the house.

He assumed he was the first one to arrive based on the silence that answered his greeting. He threw off his backpack and went straight to his room, not wanting to touch anything if he could avoid it. He plopped onto his bed and just sat there, worried about how he could go on with the rest of his life. It was strenuous enough dealing with everything that he did. This added effect of receiving…_visions_…only made his life that much more complicated.

It was a very uncomfortable feeling to gain insight into another person's life, even if it was his friend. He didn't want everything to trigger some sort of clairvoyant response in his mind. He felt like it was an extreme invasion of privacy, not to mention that it was a very big distraction.

So he sat on his bed, waiting for someone to come home and talk to about this new phenomenon, which up until now he had dismissed as déjà vu. If only it were, he thought to himself. He feared that whatever was happening to him was some sort of consequence of being magical.


	5. Seeing Things

_Alright, here's the latest chapter in the 'Complete' saga. I gotta say, this story's coming along a lot quicker than I thought it would, which is something to be happy about, I suppose…but I don't wanna jinx it, so I'll just leave it at that._

_**Raya: **You're right; there **should** be magick without consequences. In fact, I think you've given me an idea for a future story. If I can get it together, I'll shoot you an e-mail and run some ideas by you. Meanwhile, it was indeed sad when Wesley mourned John's death. Whether or not he comes back is up to him; I can't control other peoples' actions…_

_**chyp:** Thanx._

_**Corey: **Just wanted to say thanx for your e-mail and your ideas. I really liked them, especially the first one. It sounds like a great episode. When I get a little further with season II, I'll get in touch with you more about it._

_**mythica:** Welcome aboard! It's always an exciting surprise to get a review from a new reader! It's what keeps the creative fires burnin'! And thanx a lot for your comment! About the John thing, see the note I left to **Raya**…_

* * *

It was nearly an hour before Wesley arrived home. Having gotten out his frustrations and most intense mournful feelings about John, he came home with a clearer conscience and just in time to watch his favorite program, _Power Rangers_. Actually, he had taped it since it had come on two hours earlier.

"I'm approaching!" he called out in his usual manner as he opened the door.

He threw his backpack on the couch in the living room and turned on the television. While the VCR was rewinding, he pulled out a folded copy of the Oxford newspaper, _The Spoke_, and scanned the sports section. It was just as he had expected: Oxford lost to so and so by such and such…so and so beat Oxford by such and such points in something or other…

"Damn, we suck!" Wesley laughed to himself as he settled in to watch the tape.

"It's about time you came home!" Matthew yelled, bounding down the stairs. "I've been waiting for someone to get home. You'll never guess what's been going on with me!"

"Who cares about what's going on with you?" Wesley said, not bothering to look at his older brother. "It's been an overall crappy day and you're interrupting my show. Can't it wait?"

"No!" Matthew said with extra venom and grabbing the remote out of Wesley's hands. "Something is really wrong with…"

Matthew wasn't even able to finish his thought as his words were lost in another dizzy spell. The image of Wesley sitting on the couch in the living room was replaced by a mini-slideshow that ran in black and white. The images went so fast that it was difficult to keep up with them. _Matthew and Wesley are watching the news when James comes barging through the front door. He is exhausted and looks out of breath. His eyes flash momentarily, then he waves his hand…_

"Matt?" Wesley asked, trying to shake his brother back to reality. "What's wrong with you that couldn't wait?"

"I've been trying to tell you," Matthew said. "Remember the dizziness and light-headedness I've been getting? I think, no I _know_ it's something magical. Every time it happens, I see things…things that haven't happened yet. The worst part is that it happens whenever I touch something."

"Hold up," Wesley said, turning off the television now. "Are you saying that you get premonitions?"

"Yeah," Matthew answered, "I think so."

And Matthew spent the next hour or so recounting all the details of the day, including all of the visions he had had and how he had received them. He talked about what happened in his English class, after class, and on the way home. Wesley listened with an air of discomfort. If Matthew was getting premonitions of things by touching them, it could end up being as dangerous as it could be useful.

Of course, all three brothers had known that Matthew was destined to receive such a power; it had happened twice before during their first year as witches. Although those were extraordinary circumstances, he had been informed that his future involved being able to see the future. It would be of invaluable help to him and his brothers; it could serve as a means of gaining the element of surprise. At the moment, though, this new power was completely uncontrollable. He was getting mixed signals, both good and bad, which was more of a danger than a benefit.

"Can you tell me next week's lottery numbers?" Wesley joked in an effort to lighten the mood.

"Not funny," Matthew said, hesitating momentarily as he actually considered Wesley's suggestion. "Look, we have a real problem here."

"I know, I know," Wesley said. "If you are getting premonitions all willy-nilly like this, that's only gonna get us into more situations than we can already handle. We might as well just go out and look for demons to fight."

"I didn't even think about that," Matthew said.

"Well you should," Wesley said, "because I'm not gonna break my neck for no reason, no reason at all."

"Fine," Matthew said. "Now, the last vision I saw seemed important. When I took the remote from you, I saw Jimmy coming in and not looking good."

"Well of course," Wesley quipped. "This is Jimmy we're talking about. If he could, he'd…"

"Not now!" Matthew snapped. "What I was going to say was that I saw his eyes flash. Then he waved his hand."

"And?" Wesley asked.

"And," Matthew said, "that was it."

"You couldn't get anything more detailed than that?" Wesley asked. "So I'm assuming that he's waving his hand to throw something, but what?"

"If his eyes flashed," Matthew guessed, "then it probably meant something bad."

"Crap," Wesley sighed. "When is this going down? Tonight?"

"I don't know," Matthew answered. "I never know the exact time, but it might be tonight. He's out rather late this evening."

"What else were you talking about?" Wesley asked. "Something about the Council?"

"Yeah," Matthew said recalling the "dream" he thought he had had. "I think that the Council might be behind why the Book is empty. I had a vision, actually I thought it was a dream, but it seemed a little too real to be a dream, but it was kind of wispy so I figured it couldn't be real and…"

"Rambling," Wesley reminded Matthew.

"Right," Matthew said. "Anyway, in the dream, I heard voices talking about how the Complete would never suspect and how they were planning to use their new information to drive us out completely, no pun intended."

"So if they're behind this whole thing," Wesley hypothesized, "then they must have done something to the Book while we were fighting Sabo. Hopefully they still won't be able to get the information if it's protected against evil."

"That's a long shot, though," Matthew said. "As far as we know, only the Book is protected. For _words_ to be protected, that sounds pretty out there."

"You never know," Wesley said. "But the question is, how can we get it back?"

"We should start with the beginning," Matthew said. "We need to figure out when exactly this happened."

"The perfect way to ruin a nice day," Wesley commented. "A brother turned evil…_again_…and now this!"


	6. An Old Flame

_Worry not, my friends, for the 6th chapter has arrived! So sit back, relax, and try to put the pieces together in this latest installment from my 'Complete' series!_

_**Raya:** You must be all up in my head, because I can recite every single Power Ranger from every series since 1992. I wouldn't call myself obsessed, but more like a big fan! You took me back! So I guess I feel for Wesley, too… And I didn't get your e-mail address._

_**chyp:** Thanx, friend, thanx._

* * *

James stared blankly at the pages that lay before him. He had managed to read everything Dr. Gilkeson had required, but could only comprehend a tiny fraction of the material. He looked at all the information he had highlighted, hoping that in some way, the words would somehow leap into his brain and root themselves deeply. Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out that way. Suddenly, a pair of hands closed around his eyes.

"Working hard," a feminine voice asked, "or hardly working?"

"Depends," James answered cryptically. "Do we know each other?"

"From a long time ago," the voice said. "You never made good on a promise you made to me, so I thought I'd track you down and see what the problem was. After all, I held up my part of the bargain."

"That's for me to decide," James said as he forced the mysterious voice's hands apart and turned to see someone he had almost forgotten about.

"Hello, stranger," she said, smiling feverishly.

"Hi," James spat out awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I remember who you are, but I forgot your name."

"And I went through the trouble of remembering yours," she said, "finding you and everything. And you can't even remember a simple name like Sam?"

"Right," James said, "Sam from the power company. What are you doing here?"

"You owe me a date, silly," she said, still smiling.

"I never promised a date," James said, trying his best to withhold a smile.

"I believe," Sam said, looking into the air, "that the agreement was that if I got your lights fixed, we would go out on a date. I got your lights fixed."

"I never said yes," James protested.

"You never said no," Sam countered. "Friday night at eight, meet me at Brio's restaurant in Buckhead. Dress nicely, and try to smile. Otherwise we might not make it to the second date."

"This is crazy!" James exclaimed. "You expect me to go out on a date with you just because I never said that I wouldn't? You're awfully forward about this, especially if you already have the place, the time, _and_ the attire picked out."

"You're right," Sam said. "You don't have to smile. See you there!"

Sam turned on her heels and strode confidently and triumphantly out of the library, leaving James before he could even say another word. James only watched her leave, wondering how and why she had decided to come back after their initial meeting. Whatever her reasons were, he thought, she was probably after more than just a date, considering that she had bothered to track him down to the library at his university. He stoically loaded his backpack and left the library. It was already late and after everything he had gone through that day, he just wanted to get some sleep.

* * *

"You could at least move around," Wesley said to Matthew, who had refused to move from one spot of the couch. "It's strange that you haven't moved for four hours. Don't you have to go to the bathroom at least?"

"I don't want to risk getting another vision," Matthew said. "Everything is a potential source for some kind of weird vision, and considering all the crap we handle day by day, I don't think it's a good idea to go around getting them all the time."

"Getting what all the time?" James yawned as he walked through the door. The sound of his voice threw both of his brothers off guard and they instantly turned their necks. Wesley jumped after letting out a brief, but audible, shriek.

"Uh," Matthew said cautiously, remember what he had seen in his mind, "hey, Jimmy."

"Nice cover," Wesley muttered to his older brother, then looked to his oldest. "Matt's got a new power and can't control it."

"Really?" James asked, closing the front door and joining them in the living room. "What's going on?"

"He gets premonitions," Wesley answered. "He just started getting them, so everything he touches sets off one in his head. So we've just been sitting here for the past _four_ hours."

"How's he handling them?" James asked, slightly concerned.

"Like a dangerous weapon," Wesley said. "He's afraid to touch anything."

"Just so we're on the same page," James said, scratching his head, "a premonition is when you sweat, right?"

"No, dumb one," Wesley corrected, rolling his eyes, "that's _perspiration_. A _premonition_ is a vision of the future. Are you sure you graduated preschool?"

"Shut up," James snapped. "So what's he been doing about it?"

"What do I look like, a two year old?" Matthew exclaimed finally, after seeing his brothers go back and forth asking questions about him. "I know how to talk!"

"Sorry," James said. "What kinds of things have you been seeing?"

"Well," Matthew said, a little uneasy, but finally deciding to tell the truth, "a mix of things. I've found out that it's always related to whatever I touch, so while at school it's mostly been just normal stuff, like affairs, something breaking, stuff like that. That night, when I thought I was dreaming, though…"

Matthew spent the next hour filling James in on everything he had told Wesley before, while Wesley threw in extreme exaggerations from time to time. He told James about his English professor and his friends. Then they talked about his vision concerning the Council and a possible lead to their problem. Finally, after a little prodding, Matthew confessed about the vision he had had about James.

"Well," James said, "the fact that I'm still here and still sane should show that whatever you thought you saw was wrong."

"He's right," Wesley said as if a light had suddenly gone off in his head. "In your premonition, it happened right when he came through the door. So that one was a fake!"

"But all of the others haven't been," Matthew argued.

"You don't know that," Wesley said. "Have you actually been at the scene of any of these supposed happenings? As far as we know, you're just having some issues with yourself that need to be worked out."

"I wouldn't say it's _that_ deep," James said. "I think that if you are getting this new power, it's coming in overload for a reason. Maybe it's showing you that you should learn to pay more attention to ones that are more important. It won't help anybody if you try and help everybody with every little thing that comes up."

"That makes sense," Matthew said. "But what if they're _not_ fake? What happens then?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," James said. "I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. I didn't even get to tell y'all about what happened to me today. Long story, an old friend visited me and we're going out on a date…goodnight!"


	7. Running Late

_Here's the 7th chapter, everyone! I hope y'all enjoy it. Meanwhile, have a Happy Thanxgiving this coming Thursday! Eat a lot of turkey and watch a good (American) football game!_

_**Corey:** That's a pretty good idea, Corey. You should be writing stories as well, with all the ideas you have in that head of yours._

_**chyp:** Thanx._

_**Mythica:** It is pretty interesting, now that I think about it. And you raise a good question: why exactly is Matt getting false premonitions? I can think of a few reasons; can you?_

_**Raya: **Sam is quite crazy! I might go so far as to say she's a bit dense, but at this point, I can't be bothered to elaborate…_

* * *

Matthew and Wesley slept in slightly the next morning. They had exhausted themselves the night before by talking too much, so they were in quite a rush when they hurried out to campus. They both bypassed their usual breakfast and headed straight for the nearest fast food restaurant, McDonald's. What had taken them by surprise the most was the fact that James had left before either of them could ask him about his alleged date. They both drove down the highway in Matthew's forest green Acura, yawning between pieces of a broken conversation. 

"Good for him," Matthew said.

"He said it like he wasn't happy about it," Wesley observed. "Like he didn't want to go out on the date at all."

"Well, that's his call," Matthew said. "He'll tell us about it when he's ready."

"Or we'll find out anyway," Wesley joked. "Can we stop somewhere else? I'm starving! The McDonald's didn't do it for me this morning."

"Classes start in about five minutes," Matthew said, "and we're still at least _fifteen_ minutes away from Oxford. Try your best to hold it. And if that doesn't work, drink your spit."

"That's nasty," Wesley said, grimacing. "We're gonna be late anyway; we might as well take our time."

After a successful speech, Wesley finally persuaded Matthew to stop for another meal. They stopped at a Sonic because it was quick, Matthew claimed. After ordering, Wesley decided to change the radio. He was sick of listening to the morning news talk. He turned the dial to his favorite morning show, where the DJs were having their usual morning comedic conversation about nothing in particular.

"What are you doing?" Matthew asked. "I was listening to that!"

"No," Wesley claimed, "you were staring at the breakfast menu. They weren't talking about anything, anyway."

"And these people are?" Matthew asked.

They argued all the way to Oxford until they both got out of the car. Matthew had parked in the far parking lot; since they had arrived late, all of the good spots were taken. For the most part, the argument had dissipated and turned into a synchronization of their schedules so that they could leave at the same time. Matthew had decided that it would be easier if they had gone in one car today, since they were late.

"My last class is at three," Wesley said. "It gets out at around four fifteen. After that, I don't think I have any major business here."

"Great," Matthew said. "I have class until about two thirty, but I was planning on going to the library to do a little research for a paper. How about you meet me at the library when your class is out. I'll still be there."

"Okay," Wesley said, looking at his watch. "Listen, we're already too late to walk into class without drawing attention, so let's just go to the Student Center and watch TV or something."

"Sounds great to me," Matthew said.

They made their way to Oxford's Student Center, also known as the Rathskellar, into the common area where a large television was perched on a stand against the wall. The channel was turned to CNN. A few other students were already inside, watching the current events of the day. Wesley checked his mailbox, while Matthew took a seat. The two of them lazily watched the news for the next hour, when Wesley jumped up.

"Crap!" he exclaimed. "I gotta go or else I'll be late for my next class. Two in a row is just lazy."

"I don't have class until after this period," Matthew said. "I'll see you later, Homeboy."

"Bye," Wesley said as he grabbed his backpack and shuffled out of the Rathskellar with some of the other students.

* * *

Matthew spent the next half hour looking at more news before he grew bored and wanted to walk around. He went inside the bookstore, which was in an area adjacent to the lounging area, and perused the merchandise. Of course it was way too expensive and not worth the price, so he only looked at it. Still, he admitted, the store did have some nice things.

He walked out of the bookstore with an Oxford baseball cap and a Coca-Cola as he grabbed a copy of _The Spoke_, the school's newspaper. He sat at a table back in the lounge and glanced at the paper as he drank his soda. As usual, there was nothing of interest in the first few pages, but as he started to flip to the next page, his mind went dark as a flood of images invaded his mind once again. _James is knocking on a professor's door before entering. He walks in and sees a student walk into a wall, but instead of hitting it, the student walks through it. James' mouth drops in disbelief._


	8. Unbelievable!

_And a Happy Thanxgiving to everybody who celebrated it! We actually got a turkey delivered here in Japan and had a chance to party it up American style, the only way to party anything up! It was good times, but eventually I ended up having to clean up since the party was at my house… It's the bad that comes with the good…_

_**chyp: **Thanx!_

* * *

Caught off guard from the vision, Matthew abruptly dropped the soda and it spilled all over the floor. He rushed to the bathroom and took an entire roll of toilet tissue. He unraveled the entire roll and soaked the soda off the floor. His movements had become more rushed as he began to forget things. He ran out of the Rathskellar at once to find Wesley, but realized that he left his bag inside. He sprinted back in to get it, then was on his way to Seney Hall, where almost all of the Psychology classes were held. He was just about there when he suddenly remembered that he had neglected to throw away the soda and the toilet tissue he had used to clean up. He groaned and once again returned to the Rathskellar to dispose of everything. This time, he walked out of the door, but not before double-checking to see if he had gotten everything.

He walked nervously around the first floor, peeking through the narrow window slits to see if Wesley was inside any of the rooms. His peeping was only returned with strange looks from other students, as well as a few laughs, but he was a welcome distraction most of the time as the others' lectures droned on and on. He dashed upstairs to try his luck and was met with the same stares and the same results. He went to the third floor, but was disappointed yet again. He thought about his latest vision; although his brothers had convinced themselves that Matthew's visions were not always as important as they seemed, they had not been able to fully convince Matthew. He wasn't exactly sure when the event was going to take place, but he knew that something was definitely going on. Walking quickly down the stairs (the fourth floor was used for administrative purposes), he exited Seney Hall and proceeded to call James on his cellular phone.

"I'm in class," James whispered. "What is it?"

"You picked up the phone in class?" Matthew asked.

"Well," James replied angrily, "it accidentally went off in class and Dr. Gilkeson told me to answer it. Now everybody's watching, so what do you want?"

"I had a…" Matthew started to say before he saw that there were some people walking around him, "…a feeling…that something is gonna happen to you today and I just wanted to let you know that I don't know _witch_ way it will turn out, so be careful."

"Matt," James said, "you're not making any sense. I gotta go; I've had enough embarrassment for one day."

James ended the conversation and Matthew was left with nothing but a dial tone. He spent the next fifteen minutes looking inside other buildings, but finally gave up. Walking back to the Student Center, he stopped as the bell tower in Seney Hall rang majestically, signaling that it was eleven forty-five, and that classes were over for that period.

He turned around and waited on the Quad as students piled out of all of the academic buildings, some headed to their next class, some retiring to their dormitories, some taking a break at the Student Center. After straining his eyes for ten minutes, he finally spotted Wesley walking outside of Pierce Hall, where science classes were usually held.

"This next test is gonna be hard," Wesley was saying to his friend, Aaron. "I think Celina, Patrick, and Terrance were setting up a study group later next week. You goin'?"

"Probably," Aaron answered. "I need all the help I can get. Hey, there's Matt."

"Hey, Matt," Wesley said casually, examining Matthew's cap. "You went to the bookstore, didn't you?"

"Later," Matthew said. "Hi, Aaron. Listen, there's a situation and we need to go handle it."

"What kind of situation?" Wesley asked. "A _situation_?"

"Yeah," Matthew said. "Sorry, Aaron, but we need to leave right now. It's an emergency."

"That's cool," Aaron said. "Let me know about that study group, then."

"Okayyyy!" Wesley shouted as Matthew yanked him and hurried him to the parking lot. "What's going on? Where are we going?"

"I had a vision," Matthew said. "We need to get to Jimmy."

"You're going off of a premonition?" Wesley asked. "You don't even know when it's gonna happen, _or_ if it's worth anything!"

"I saw Jimmy going into some professor's office and seeing a student walk through a wall," Matthew explained. "I think that qualifies as being worth something."

"Matt," Wesley said, "your premonitions are random. Plus, you don't even know where we're going when we get to Emory. Did you check that out?"

"Damn!" Matthew cursed. "I left that copy of the newspaper back in the Rathskellar. Do you have a copy on you?"

"Yeah," Wesley said, pulling out a newspaper. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything about Emory," Matthew answered as they made it to the car.

"But everything is about Emory," Wesley said.

"Not _Oxford_," Matthew corrected, "_Emory_!"

"The only thing about the main campus," Wesley read, "is in the 'Emory College Report Card' section. Seems like this one chemistry professor, Dr. Gilkeson, got an 'F' as the worst professor ever."

"Anything else?" Matthew asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Nope," Wesley said, flipping through the rest of the paper. "That's all."

"Then that's who we're going to see," Matthew proclaimed. "It must be his office that Jimmy's going to. Come to think of it, he said that professor's name when I talked to him a while ago."

"You already called him?" Wesley asked.

Matthew filled Wesley in on the details of the premonition, although what he had seen was pretty self-explanatory. However, they both talked about possible reasons behind the premonition; there were too many reasons to count as they thought up idea after idea. All the while, Matthew sped the two of them to the main campus, located about forty miles from Oxford College.


	9. Office Meeting

_Okay, kids, here's the newest chapter in the latest long and drawn out story that I'm writing! As usual, I hope y'all enjoy it!_

_**Raya:** I hope so, too. And just to stay on your case, 'suspence' is not a word. I think this British thing is slowly messing up your head!_

_**chyp:** Appreciative!_

* * *

James sighed as he walked to Dr. Gilkeson's office. He had already endured as much embarrassment as he could take for the day; now he had to go to his office and talk about why his cell phone rang during class. James felt like he had been suddenly jerked back into childhood. It was insane for two adults to be having such a conversation. Instances such as this only made James hate Dr. Gilkeson that much more. Still, he figured, he might as well try and ask for some clarification on a few parts of the textbook. How much worse could it get, he thought to himself.

It was just after lunchtime. James had finished eating and it took fifteen minutes for him to traverse the campus to get to the Chemistry building, where Dr. Gilkeson's office was located. He hastily walked in and looked at the directory on the wall. He had to go up two flights and all the way down the hall. He closed his mouth and swallowed spit as he opted to take the stairs, wanting to prolong this for as long as he could. As he reached the fourth stair, his cell phone rang again.

"Yeah?" James called into the phone.

"Jimmy!" Matthew shouted. "Whatever you do, don't go inside your teacher's office! It's…"

"Matt," James said, cutting Matthew off, "I'm not in the mood to talk about this now."

With that he clicked off the phone and turned it off. He was in a bad enough mood because of Matthew; the last thing he wanted right now was to talk to him. Of course it wasn't Matthew's fault in the first place, but he needed someone other than himself to blame.

"He hung up on me!" Matthew said.

"I'll try," Wesley said, grabbing Matthew's cell phone.

"He probably turned it off," Matthew reasoned. "I think he's pissed at me."

"For what?" Wesley asked. "Being too nosy?"

"For getting him in trouble in his class," Matthew said. "He should've had the phone on vibrate."

"Right," Wesley agreed. "If he got in that much trouble just for having a phone go off in class, what the hell kind of class is he in, kindergarten?"

"We have to get to him," Matthew said as he punched on the accelerator.

"Matt," Wesley said, covering his eyes with his hands, "we're still ten minutes away from Emory. If he's going in, he's going in. He can take care of himself. Besides, now I have to use another absence. I don't get but three per semester. You're crazy. Next time, you're on your own."

* * *

James hesitantly knocked on Dr. Gilkeson's door. No one answered, but he could hear faint traces of people talking. He looked at his watch. It was twelve fifty, exactly ten minutes earlier than he had been told to come. He knocked again, but still his knocks went unanswered. He put his ear to the door and couldn't distinguish anything, but could definitely hear voices. He had come too far to go back now, so he boldly opened the door.

Walking in, he was just able to see someone walking into a wall, except instead of bumping _into_ it, the student walked right _through_ it. James did a double take and his mouth dropped as he took in what he had just seen. People didn't normally walk through walls, at least not to his knowledge, and Matthew was an exception. He looked around the office; everything else looked to be in order. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He examined the wall. When he touched it, it only felt like a normal wall. He slowly leaned against it, but nothing happened. For the next few minutes, James pushed on various parts of the walls, looking for any kind of clue that would give insight into the situation.

He spent so much time looking around that he put the meeting with Dr. Gilkeson out of his mind. If what he saw was real, and if it happened in this particular professor's office, then something definitely had to be going on, he thought. And if something was going on, then there was a pretty good chance that Dr. Gilkeson was a part of it. Either way, James figured, whatever was going on wasn't good, and his suspicions were soon confirmed.

As he inched back toward the door, the wall suddenly rippled and out came the man James had come to see, but there was something different about him. His eyes were completely dilated; both of his eyes were completely black with no white whatsoever. Otherwise, he looked the same. He was wearing a brown suit and holding a briefcase. Not knowing quite what to do, James took a defensive stance as he continuously crept to the door. Dr. Gilkeson only stretched his neck.

"Nice of you to drop in," he said to James, "but you've come a little too early. I trust you've acquainted yourself with the office?"

"I _knew_ you weren't quite right," James said. "What's going on here?"

"You've stumbled onto something you have no idea about," Dr. Gilkeson said, "but since you're here, I guess I could modify my plans a bit."

"Wrong," James corrected with a sly smile on his face. "_You've_ stumbled onto something _you_ have no idea about."


	10. Student Teacher Conference

_And just like that, another chapter is added to the ongoing story of the three brother witches known as the Complete!_

_**chyp: **Thanx._

_**mythica: **I think that's exactly how I'd describe James…a typical alpha male. You hit it right on the head with that one, oh mysterious mythica… And whether or not he knows it, Matt's visions come to him for a reason…_

_**Raya:** In time, all things will be answered._

* * *

Dr. Gilkeson's eyes flashed once, and the door behind James suddenly locked itself while all the blinds closed, sealing him inside the office. James watched as the professor's eyes returned to normal. They only stared at each other, each waiting on the other to make the first move. Then, Dr. Gilkeson quickly threw the briefcase he was holding at James. It sailed through the air on a path to James' face. James quickly reacted by waving his right hand dismissingly at the briefcase. It instantly changed directions and headed toward its owner. However, Dr. Gilkeson wasn't standing there anymore; he had disappeared in the same rippling manner as the wall. He appeared behind James and quickly grabbed his arms, twisting them behind his back.

"A witch," Dr. Gilkeson spat as though he were saying a bad word. "Not what I had expected, but this could work."

"Don't count on it," James replied as he tried to force his way out of the professor's grip.

No matter how hard he tried, though, he couldn't free himself from the vice-like grip that Dr. Gilkeson had on his arms. Without the use of his hands, James was unable to use his powers. Thinking fast, he concentrated and produced a clone of himself, which appeared behind Dr. Gilkeson. The clone tapped the professor on the shoulder. Dr. Gilkeson turned around and the clone punched him in the face, causing him to release his grip on the real James. The clone waved his hand and Dr. Gilkeson was pushed lightly to the floor. James remembered that his clone only had the ability to use limited telekinesis, which proved to be much weaker. Dr. Gilkeson quickly stood up.

"You'll have to do better than that," he challenged.

"How about this?" both James' asked, grinning.

They simultaneously waved their right hands forcefully and James' full power was unleashed. Dr. Gilkeson flew high into the air and crashed onto his desk, shattering it. The two James' high-fived each other and merged into the original. James raised his hand slowly and Dr. Gilkeson began to slowly rise into the air, not of his own accord.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" James asked, panting heavily. Cloning was still relatively new to him, and it always tired him out when he used it.

"You'll find out soon," Dr. Gilkeson answered cryptically. "Now's a perfect time, as a matter of fact."

With that, he rippled out of sight and reappeared on the ground, unharmed. He stood for a minute, carefully studying his next move. He smiled as his eyes once again dilated themselves, becoming completely black. James did not notice, but the space behind him began to ripple faintly. Without hesitation, Dr. Gilkeson jumped into the air towards James. Before James could react, Dr. Gilkeson disappeared again. Only the sound of his laughter could be heard. James quickly looked all around him, trying to follow the source of the sound. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Dr. Gilkeson reappear from the right side. He turned around to face him, but by now he was too close to use his powers.

He barely had time to block a punch that Dr. Gilkeson threw at him. He retaliated with a punch of his own, but it was blocked as well. Slowly, Dr. Gilkeson pushed James back toward the rippling space behind him. James struggled as he tried to keep up with the professor's almost superior moves. Focusing all of his attention on the fight, James never noticed what was happening behind him. Before he knew it, he had tripped and fallen through the wall, losing his balance…


	11. Up Against The Wall

_Chapter 11, everybody! Read and review at your own leisure!_

_**chyp: **Thanx!_

* * *

"Is this it?" Wesley asked.

"Austin Gilkeson," Matthew read. "Yeah, this is it. You ready?"

"Never," Wesley answered, "but let's get this over with."

Wesley cracked the door open and stuck a hand in, flicking it. Everything inside the room froze in motion, but when he and Matthew walked in, there was no one inside. There was definite evidence of a struggle, though. They saw the broken desk and knew at once that their brother had been here. But how long ago? They both searched for anything that could help them along the way.

"Try touching stuff and getting a premonition," Wesley said to Matthew. "Maybe this time you'll be on point."

"Good idea," Matthew said. "Meanwhile, you keep looking. And try to find a spot in the wall where you can walk through."

"What?" Wesley asked. "You want me to…fine."

Wesley tiptoed around the office, hesitantly pressing against random spots in the walls, looking for magical openings but secretly hoping that there weren't any. He breathed a small sigh of relief every time he was met with nothing, but that feeling only lasted a short while as he believed that it only doubled the chances that the next spot would be the one.

Meanwhile, Matthew was walking around the room, picking up anything and hoping to get a premonition from it. Anything he touched, though, either gave him nothing, or the exact same premonition that he had received before: the one where James walks into the house and waves his hand after his eyes flash. He shook his head in frustration as he tried to will that particular thought out of his head, but each time he saw it, it seemed to become stronger and stronger.

"You got anything yet?" Matthew asked.

"Nope," Wesley answered. "What are you getting? I hear you gasping every ten seconds."

"The same premonition I had before," Matthew said, "where Jimmy walks in and waves his hand."

"Maybe your power is broken," Wesley suggested. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that we can remember that. It doesn't have to keep coming back."

"Unless," Matthew said, sitting in one of the chairs that had managed to stay intact, "it's a sign."

"A sign?" Wesley asked, confused.

"Yeah," Matthew said as his hypothesis became clearer. "Maybe that one premonition was a sign of what _could_ happen! Most of the ones I've gotten were visions of the _future_."

"Well duh," Wesley said. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It means, jackass," Matthew explained, "that since they're visions of the future, we have a chance to change them in the _present_. Why didn't I think of this before?"

"I don't know," Wesley said, "but now we need to figure out how we're supposed to stop it. I guess the fact that you keep getting the same premonition means that we're red hot."

"Right," Matthew agreed. "We're on the one yard line. Let's keep looking."

* * *

James found himself in a small elevator-like area. Before he could make sense of anything, the room suddenly dropped at an amazing speed, catching James by surprise. It stopped abruptly, throwing James to the ground, and doors opened from out of nowhere, revealing a dimly-lit chamber. He slowly walked around, trying to stay hidden.

It wasn't very long before he came upon something that startled him. He saw a group of about fifteen people standing in front of a large, crackling red fire. There was something about the group, though. They looked somewhat familiar to James, but why? Then it finally hit him; they were students in Dr. Gilkeson's class! But they weren't moving. They were only standing there as if they were robots with depleted batteries. He moved in a little closer, making sure to stay hidden. As he moved closer, he could make out an all too familiar voice.

"Welcome, my newest group of students," the voice called out, "to your new lives. You've all been chosen to become the next group of elite demons under my command…"

James' mouth dropped in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. But it all made sense now. Adam's story about how students were acting strange after some incident. Something about Dr. Gilkeson that wasn't quite right. It all began to fit together into the scheme that he was hearing. Dr. Gilkeson was recruiting college students to become demons for him! He leaned in a little closer."

"…and together we shall unite and destroy all humanity!" Dr. Gilkeson continued. "But first, we must destroy _yours_. Line up, now, and walk through the fire to burn off all the humanity inside you. What remains of you will prove to be much more valuable than you ever believed as your deepest, darkest desires come to life!"

James watched as the students quietly lined up, not saying a word. They seemed to be in a zombie-like state, like they were under some sort of spell. After they slowly lined up, they began to march forward toward the fire without hesitation, as if they were moving against their will. The first student (James only knew him by his name, Robert Martin) passed through the fire. The flames consumed him completely, turning a bright white as a wispy silver-colored smoke rose from it. Dr. Gilkeson reached out his hand and the smoke redirected itself towards him. He absorbed the smoke into his own body as his eyes dilated as he did so. Then the flames turned black and Robert emerged, looking unharmed, but somehow looking "darker." After the process repeated fourteen more times, Dr. Gilkeson ushered them back to their original spots, looking as pleased as ever.

"Congratulations," he said, "you have passed the first step of the de-humanizing process. Of course, there will be some residual humanity that the Demonic Flame cannot destroy. That, my future demons, is your next step. Your next mission is to go out into the world and commit a crime. As the de-humanizing is a meticulously slow procedure, we must start slowly and work our way up to bigger and better things.

"Having successfully passed through the Demonic Flame, you have rid yourself of a conscience. As you progress, you will develop more and thus acquire demonic powers. Eventually, you will work your way up to killing innocents. Then, and only then, will you become a full-fledged demon."

"Yes," all fifteen students responded in unison.

"I almost forgot," Dr. Gilkeson said. "As a special treat for you today, we have a practice dummy for you to use. Mr. Armstrong, come on out!"


	12. Backstabber

_Hiya! Got a new chapter for y'all to enjoy!_

_**Raya: **Can you see where I'm going with this now? Ha, I got you!_

_**chyp:** Gratitude._

* * *

James was busted. But then again, some part of him had known that from the beginning. After all, he had been tricked into getting there. He cautiously emerged from his hiding spot, not bothering to look at his classmates. His eyes stayed on Dr. Gilkeson.

"Why did you wait until now to announce me?" James asked.

"Every good villain knows," Dr. Gilkeson explained with a smirk, "that you let the so-called 'hero' in on the plot. Otherwise there's no story."

"Don't you know that the bad guy never wins?" James asked, returning the smirk.

"That's not always true," Dr. Gilkeson said. "This time, you're outnumbered, sixteen to one."

"It almost doesn't seem fair," James said, covertly examining his surroundings. "Y'all don't stand a chance."

Before Dr. Gilkeson could utter another command, James had taken the initiative and waved his hand in a forceful manner. Four students were hurled into the air and thrown into other students, who fell trying to catch them. He waved his hand again and four more students were sent flying into more of their colleagues. He kept waving his hand relentlessly, forcing the crowd back toward Dr. Gilkeson. He then focused his attention on the professor and with a violent backhand motion, he sent Dr. Gilkeson hurtling through the air, eventually crashing into a wall and sliding down to the ground. He turned to the students, but they made no attempt to retaliate.

Dr. Gilkeson slowly rose to his feet, his anger rising, and turned to the motionless students. He cast an annoyed glare at James, who only grinned in return, and opened his palm. A small glass vial appeared, filled with a shiny blue liquid. He quickly threw it at James and it broke near his feet.

"Is that the best you can do?" James asked. "Your aim is lame."

"Is it?" Dr. Gilkeson asked back, turning to his students. "My students, attack him!"

James began to run, but after only two steps an invisible force threw him backwards. He tried to run in the opposite direction, but the same thing happened again. Each time he was thrown back, a faint red light would appear, indicating that there was some sort of invisible force field keeping him in the area.

Meanwhile, the students continued to advance upon him as a group. They walked in perfect sync with each other and separated until they had James completely surrounded on all sides. As they closed in, James waved his hand to once again utilize his telekinetic powers. He saw a faint red flash and then nothing. His powers had been contained inside the force field. He strained his brain to think of another solution.

He closed his eyes and then opened them again. Half of his field of vision saw the students from the front, while the other half saw them from the back. He was looking through his own eyes as well as his clone's. His clone was about to grab one of the students from behind when all of a sudden James felt an extremely sharp pain in his back.

"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Dr. Gilkeson asked, plunging a dagger deeper into James' back. He smiled in satisfaction as both James and his clone groaned in agony. "I'm afraid that this time, the bad guy _will_ win. In fact, recruiting a witch would more than make up for the delay you've caused me."

* * *

"I think we should go home," Wesley said. "We've been here for I don't know how long and we haven't found anything, except for your premonition, which you've gotten so many times that I'm starting to see it myself."

"Not now since we're so close," Matthew replied. "We're definitely on the right track. We just need one more clue and I think we'll have a better…"

Matthew stopped mid-sentence as his eyes focused on a strange movement coming from the opposite corner of the room. He directed Wesley toward it and they both saw the wall start to ripple. Wesley began to say something, but Matthew quickly shushed him and they hid behind a shelf. Peeking from behind it, they saw two students walk out, saying nothing to each other. They looked at the trashed office and smiled at each other briefly before exiting the office, never looking back.

There was something about them, though, that made Matthew feel uneasy. They looked normal, as if nothing had ever happened, but somehow, _somehow_ they seemed to have a "darker" feature. It was quite unexplainable, but apparent in some way. Matthew just knew that something had happened to them.

"There," Matthew whispered to Wesley, pointing at the spot that had rippled. "We need to get there. That could be our only way…"

He quickly hushed as the wall rippled again and two more students filed out of it. They did the exact same things as the previous two; they were completely silent, they looked around the office, and they smiled before leaving.

"I'm not going in there," Wesley whispered to Matthew. "There's no telling what's behind that wall."


	13. Instinct Pulls Through

_Behold the power of the mighty review! It controls how quickly I update chapters, although I was probably gonna update today anyway…_

_**mythica:** The smart ones can almost always see where the story goes…keyword being 'almost.' Thanx, La---er, mythica._

_**Raya: **You're right, Matthew did see an evil James, but sometimes what you see isn't what you get…_

_**chyp: **Thankfulness._

* * *

"Jimmy's behind that wall," Matthew said. "What more do you need to know. Listen, it looks like whatever meeting went on is over, so the next time someone comes out of there, freeze them and maybe it will keep the wall open long enough for us to get through."

"How will we get out?" Wesley asked.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Matthew answered.

"You've been around Jimmy too long," Wesley sighed, giving in to the idea.

Sure enough, it wasn't very long before the wall opened up again, allowing two more students to pass through. With a nudge from Matthew, Wesley flicked his hands and the two froze in motion. The two students were halfway out of the wall, so Matthew figured that it was still open. He pulled Wesley across the office to the wall, where he boldly stuck a hand in. To both his and Wesley's relief, nothing bad happened. He pushed Wesley through the wall before entering himself.

The two were standing in an elevator-like area. Before either of them could say anything, the area suddenly dropped at an amazing speed, catching them by surprise. Wesley had to cover his mouth with his hands, while Matthew only gasped. When it stopped, the doors opened and they walked out into a dimly lit chamber.

"I don't like this," Wesley said, looking around.

"Complain later," Matthew said. "We have more important things to do now."

Matthew and Wesley walked around, careful to hide when others would approach. A few times, Matthew had to grab Wesley's hand and phase them into the stone walls. After walking a bit more, they began to hear voices. One was definitely James', but who was the other?

"…and there's nothing to worry about," Matthew and Wesley heard the voice say. "Once you pass through the Demonic Flame, you will belong to me."

"That's gotta be Jimmy," Matthew said. "Let's go."

"But…" Wesley began to protest, but Matthew had already broken into a run towards the source of the voices. He sighed as he sprinted to catch up.

What they saw next was unbelievable. Some random people had James lifted above their heads and were carrying him toward a giant, crackling red fire. James was saying things, but they weren't easily discernable. He was obviously in pain, though, as could be determined from the freely flowing blood seeping from his back.

"Who are you?" Dr. Gilkeson asked, turning to address the two brothers. "You're not supposed to be here."

Wesley threw out his hands before Matthew could even suggest it. The students all froze at once, as did Dr. Gilkeson. Matthew quickly ran to where James was and heaved him onto his feet. He was bloody and beaten and had surely been in a fight. He hadn't gotten far, though, before Dr. Gilkeson began to regain motion.

"Matt!" Wesley cried. "Watch out!"

Matthew turned around to see Dr. Gilkeson fighting his way out of Wesley's freezing power. He was outraged to see what had happened and his eyes became completely black.

"I'm not finished with him yet," Dr. Gilkeson said.

He raised his hand, but soon fell to the ground. Matthew saw Wesley standing behind the professor, breathing heavily and clutching his fist. He walked over to his brothers and helped Matthew support James.

"Get…out…of…here," James mumbled. "Save…yourselves."

"If I'm willing to damn near break my hand trying to save you," Wesley said, "then I'm staying."

"Good shot, homeboy," Matthew congratulated. "Glad to see you're learning something."

"Well he's coming to," Wesley said, pointing at Dr. Gilkeson. "We gotta get out of here!"

"The only way out is that elevator," Matthew said. "Let's go."

Matthew and Wesley ran as quickly as they could to the place they came from, but with James in tow things went a little slower than usual. They had gotten pretty far when all of a sudden there was a faint flash of light and all three of them bounced off of some invisible force that threw them to the ground.

"I'm afraid you're not going anywhere," Dr. Gilkeson said. He was now fully free of Wesley's freeze. "I've invested my time and energy into recruiting a witch, so I'm going to recruit a witch. _Three_ witches, on the other hand, would be quite a treat. First things first, though."

Dr. Gilkeson extended his hands in a "give it to me" fashion and James began to roll along the ground toward him. It happened so fast that neither Wesley nor Matthew had time to react and grab him. Wesley reached out his hand again to freeze Dr. Gilkeson, but this time there was hardly any effect. He laughed as he briskly shook off the effects of Wesley's powers.

"And for the next step," Dr. Gilkeson said.

He opened his palm and once again a small glass vial appeared, this time filled with a clear liquid. He threw it at his students and they immediately resumed movement. Without saying a word, he simply pointed at the two remaining brothers and they jumped into action, making a beeline for them. Wesley flicked his hands again, but as with Dr. Gilkeson, his powers were no longer effective.

"Matt!" Wesley yelled. "They're not freezing anymore!"

"I see that," Matthew said as Wesley hid behind him.

"What do we do?" Wesley asked.

"Fight," Matthew answered, "the old-fashioned way."

As Matthew said those last words, various weapons appeared in the hands of the students who were rushing them. Daggers and knives, bats and clubs, all kinds of gang associated offensive objects materialized from out of thin air. Wesley was scared out of his mind. They were still too far from the entrance to escape, and there were too many to fight. Besides, an invisible force field was preventing them from leaving anyway. The odds were too stacked against them, but Matthew was determined to stay and fight. He clenched his fists and prepared himself to fight. The demonic students drew ever closer. At the last minute, Wesley's panic peaked and he grabbed Matthew instinctively and the two of them glimmered out in a bunch of blue and white lights.


	14. It Was A Real Premonition!

_Here's chapter 14 for everyone to please enjoying! Sorry, Japan is slowly eating at my ability to use the English language properly…_

_**chyp:** Satisfaction._

_**Raya: **A very bloody hell, if you ask me, but I'm not one to spoil the surprise, so you'll have to make up your own conclusions…_

* * *

"How did we get back home?" Matthew asked.

"I don't know," Wesley said, looking confused. "I just got scared and home was the first place that came into my head."

"You glimmered us here," Matthew concluded. "Your powers are getting better. Now, you just need to learn to do it consciously, not instinctively."

"I can't help it," Wesley said. "It's impossible to control. It just happens. You oughta know what I'm talking about now, _considering_…"

"Okay, okay," Matthew said. "Let's calm down and think for a minute."

"We don't have a minute," Wesley said quickly. "We need to get back to Jimmy. He wasn't looking too good last time we saw him."

"Unless you can glimmer us back there," Matthew said calmly, "we'll have to think of something."

"My car's still here," Wesley said. "Let's go."

"Hold on," Matthew said, catching Wesley by the collar. "He's definitely gonna expect us to come back now. We need a plan."

"I wish John were here," Wesley said, looking hopelessly at the ceiling. "He could get us back there and fix everything."

"He's not here," Matthew said rather sternly before changing his tone upon seeing Wesley's reaction. "I'm sorry. Look, I know it hurts, but you need to focus on the tasks at hand."

"Fine," Wesley sighed. "What are we gonna do?"

"Assess everything," Matthew said. "We have wayward students all around Atlanta. The Council has our Book. Jimmy's in trouble, and his professor's a demon."

"Some shopping list," Wesley mumbled.

They spent the remainder of the afternoon discussing the many supernatural problems they had, putting them in order of priority. They eventually decided that saving James was at the top of the list, since they would need him in order to accomplish anything else. They were the strongest as three, after all. There was only one thing that was standing in their way of proceeding; Dr. Gilkeson, as Matthew had stated earlier, would expect their return and would surely be ready for them. They had to figure out another way to get James back.

"We have to figure out another way to get Jimmy back," Matthew said.

"Let's do it over dinner," Wesley suggested. "It's already nine o'clock and I'm starving!"

"It's nine already?" Matthew asked, looking at his watch. "We've been talking about this for that long?"

"Are you _kidding_?" Wesley exclaimed. "Matt, when you get obsessed over something, you really like to talk about it until there's nothing left to talk about. And seeing that we still haven't found an answer, it's pretty safe to assume that you're still gonna wanna talk about this."

"Shut up," Matthew said after a moment of hesitation.

"I'm just saying," Wesley said, "that it would be a whole lot easier if Jimmy were here."

Their conversation was interrupted when James burst through the door. He looked exhausted and out of breath, as if he had just fought an entire army of demons. He was sweating profusely and looked a general mess. All the while, though, his gaze remained fixed upon his brothers.

"Guess we should've seen that comin'," Wesley whispered to Matthew.

"Jimmy," Matthew said, "are you alright? You look worse than usual."

"H-H-Help…m-me," James stuttered as his eyes started to glow an eerie red hue. "C-Can't…c-contr-trol…it!"

His eyes went fully red and he immediately took on a darker persona. His look of exhaustion quickly changed into a look of utter focus and determination. His panting and heavy breathing turned into a more relaxed and relieved state. Wesley jumped off the couch without a second thought and grabbed Matthew.

"This is it, isn't it?" Wesley asked.

"You _think_?" Matthew replied sarcastically as James slowly advanced upon them.

"Jimmy," Matthew beckoned, "you have to fight this. This isn't you. You can beat it."

"Beat _this_!" James replied with an air of arrogance.

He waved his hand and both Matthew and Wesley were magically lifted off their feet and thrown into the kitchen, crashing through the doorway. They slowly stood up, their backs aching, and Matthew boldly walked back into the living room while Wesley peeked in from the doorway.

"Back for more?" James asked.

"If it means saving my brother," Matthew said, "then yes."

"There's nothing left to save," James replied.

Without moving his eyes, James motioned to the side of him and a dagger came tearing through the air from out of nowhere, headed straight for Matthew, who was too focused on James to react quickly enough. With a shriek, Wesley threw out his hands and the dagger froze just as it barely pierced Matthew's side. He ran out and joined Matthew.

"Nice timing, jackass," Matthew said, pulling the dagger out of his side, causing a little blood to trickle.

"Thank me later," Wesley said, pointing to James. "Look, he's frozen, too. That's a bad thing, right? My power doesn't work on y'all unless something's wrong."

"Well don't you think something's wrong?" Matthew asked. "We need to turn him back, and I bet that his professor is the key. Let's go."

"Where?" Wesley asked. "And what do we do about Jimmy?"

"Leave him here," Matthew said. "I have an idea."


	15. A Vision of Her Own

_In the spirit of the holidays, I'm putting up a chapter before I get out for my much needed vacation, so to all of y'all, have a very merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Ramadan, and whatever else I might have missed! Please enjoy!_

_**Mythica: **It always makes me feel good when I know that because of me, somebody's lazing off on the job! Enjoy your family's visit and I hope y'all have a lot of fun!_

_**Raya: **I'm in your corner. I also hope they save James and that Matt's idea works. His mind isn't in complete working order, it seems as of late…_

_**chyp: **Indebtedness._

* * *

Sam walked around the basement of the brothers' house, having appeared from out of nowhere in particular. She examined everything in there before turning to the most prized possession the brothers owned, the Book of Light. She nonchalantly approached it, running her finger across the cover as she traced the three intertwining circles that symbolized the Complete. As she opened the Book, she let out a small gasp upon seeing that the pages were all blank. She flipped page after page only to find that there was nothing there. Whatever happened to the words, she thought, it had to be something bad.

She held her hands over the Book and a bright white light began to emanate from them, illuminating the Book. Suddenly, images started to flash through her head, images that detailed the events involving the mystery of the missing words. She closed her eyes tightly and opened her mind to the recollected memories racing through her head…

"_Cut the crap," James said. "Once we get rid of Sabo, we're out of here. How do we do it?"_

"_There is a spell," Mastiphal explained, "hidden in both the Book of Shadows and the Book of Light. Only when the two books are together will the spell show itself. It must be read by both sides, good and evil, to contain the evil that has been unleashed."_

_Mastiphal held up the Book of Shadows while James held up the Book of Light. Within seconds, both books began to glow a strange orange color that gradually brightened until it completely illuminated the chamber. At the peak of the glowing, Mastiphal chanted, "Ex Suum Ut Nostri." Then, the light subsided and the books returned to normal._

"_Did it work?" Matthew asked._

"_One way to find out," James said as he opened the Book. "It's here. Right on the front page. Did it work for y'all?"_

"_Yes," Mastiphal said. "Better than we had hoped."_

"_What is that supposed to mean?" Matthew asked._

"'Ex Suum Ut Nostri'?" Sam repeated to herself. Nevertheless, she continued to recall more events of the past in order to discover why the Book was in its current state…

_James turned to face the Council for at least a goodbye and an expression of gratitude, but they had disappeared. The brothers assumed that they had returned to their chamber._

"_Didn't even say goodbye," Wesley said brashly._

"_I guess it was for the best," Matthew said. "I mean, how awkward was it before, when we all had the common enemy? Now, any kind of confrontation would be retarded unless it was to, you know…"_

"_But we could've fought this out right here, right now," Wesley said. "At least we could've gotten it over with."_

"_I think evil is a little more insidious than that," Matthew said. "They're probably waiting for the right moment to take us down."_

"_Whatever it is," James said as he flipped through the Book with wide eyes, "it's gonna be good…"_

Sam opened her eyes as a thought popped into her head. Having relived the first vision and having just seen the second one, she was quick to put the clues together, but she wanted to be certain that what she thought was true. She repositioned her hands over the empty Book of Light and once more pulled a past memory into her head…

"_Let the object of objection return,  
So that its existence may be reaffirmed." _

_Wesley stepped away from the Book of Light, wondering if the spell he had just cast would be effective. He waited alongside his brothers for some sort of sign to signal that everything had worked. The more they waited, however, the less hopeful they became. Matthew finally grabbed the Book and flipped through it, confirming that the spell had in fact not worked._

"_You didn't really think that a spell you got off some TV show would work, did you?" Matthew snapped at Wesley._

"_I'm sorry," Wesley said defensively, "but none of your spells have worked! These are desperate times, man! Besides, 'Charmed' has some good spells!"_

"_That's pretend," James said, siding with Matthew, as usual. "This is real life."_

"_Please," Wesley said under his breath._

"_Well," James said, "I guess we have to come up with something else to make the words in the Book reappear."_

"_Well that's just not possible!" Matthew exclaimed, flipping through the Book of Light. _

"_Words just can't…disappear!"_

"_They can and they did," James said with a tone that held both reassurance and uneasiness._

_Matthew continued to ignore James' words of reassurance and kept flipping through the Book of Light, the centuries old spell book that had been passed down to him and his brothers. He carefully looked at every single page, hoping that whatever had happened was some stupid magic trick that was easily fixable, but every time he came to the conclusion that something terrible had actually caused the words in their most prized possession to disappear. He briefly put the empty Book down and shook his head before continuing._

She slowly removed her hands from over the Book and took a minute to think things through. This would surely be the best way to make things right, but she knew that she couldn't be found out, at least not now. She held out her hands over the Book of Light. Her warm powers created a strong golden glow that engulfed the Book completely. The pages began to turn of their own accord as words began scribbling themselves onto them. Then it was done. The Book closed with a thud and the symbol of the Complete flashed once before returning to normal.


	16. Taking Action

_Hello, everybody. Just wanted to wish everybody a Happy New Year! I hope that this year (of the dog, which I happen to be) brings y'all much happiness and joy and all that junk. So, in honor of the 2006, here's another chapter!_

_**chyp:** Obliged._

* * *

"What's this idea you've got?" Wesley asked Matthew as they drove in Wesley's red Ford Explorer towards Emory University's main campus.

"It's hot," Matthew replied as he continued to jot something on a notepad. "I'm stuck on this spell. What's a good word that rhymes with 'hidden?'"

"'Ridden?'" Wesley suggested. "Or 'bidden.'"

"Bidden?" Matthew echoed.

"It's a word!" Wesley claimed.

"So is 'intrauterine,'" Matthew spat. "It doesn't belong in a spell."

"Sure it does," Wesley defended himself. "It means the opposite of 'forbidden.' Don't get mad at me, Mr. English Major!"

"Humph," Matthew said as they continued driving.

It took about forty-five minutes to reach the main campus. It was pretty late out, so there wasn't as much traffic. Upon arrival, it took another fifteen minutes for them to walk back to the Chemistry building, where Dr. Gilkeson's office was. The building was locked since it was after hours. Matthew checked around before taking Wesley's hand and phasing them through the doors. They tiptoed up the stairs to their destination; Matthew was drilling Wesley on what to do once they were there.

"I know," Wesley droned. "I freeze the office and you say the spell to get us through the wall. We take the death elevator and fight him there. Blah, blah, blah."

"Don't freak out on me this time," Matthew said.

"Me freak out?" Wesley asked. "That was just one time."

On Matthew's count, he pushed the door to Dr. Gilkeson's office open and Wesley quickly shot a hand it and flicked it, activating his power to stop time on all things inside. He peeked his head in and saw that it was once again empty. He gave the okay sign to Matthew and they both entered. They hurried to the exact spot they had gone to before, where the other students had emerged. Matthew pulled out the piece of paper he had been writing on in the car and held it out for both him and Wesley to read.

"_Hidden somewhere in these walls  
Is the place where duty calls.  
Open it now so we can enter;  
Reveal this evil's epicenter."_

The walls flashed white for a moment before the familiar ripple appeared. The two walked through the wall and once again found themselves inside the hidden elevator. Wesley covered his mouth just in time for the gravity-defying drop. The compartment slammed down with a thud and the doors slid open, revealing the same chamber as before. Inside, Matthew and Wesley heard the voice of Dr. Gilkeson, but what exactly he was saying was unclear.

They moved in slowly to get a better vantage point. They saw Dr. Gilkeson talking, _chanting_ to the same flame that other students had passed through. Whatever he was saying was definitely not in English, and it was only serving to make the fire burn brighter and with more intensity. The flames began to lick his body before engulfing him completely, imbuing him with more power.

"We need to get him into the fire," Matthew whispered to Wesley.

"Are you blind?" Wesley asked, pointing to the Demonic Flame-engulfed Dr. Gilkeson. "Anyway, doesn't the fire destroy humanity? I mean, if he doesn't have any to begin with, then what good is throwing him in it gonna be?"

"That's why I wrote this spell," Matthew said, producing another piece of paper from his pocket. "Maybe it's a good thing we don't have the Book with us. It's forcing me to come up with more spells on my own."

"Pat yourself on the back," Wesley mumbled, turning to once again observe Dr. Gilkeson. "We need to make a move now or else I'm gonna get out of here."

"We just need to make sure that he's alone," Matthew said. "The last thing we need is a mob of brainwashed…"

Suddenly, something grabbed Matthew's back and threw him into the open space, immediately catching Dr. Gilkeson's attention. Wesley soon followed, landing hard on his stomach. They turned to see five students, eyes pitch black, glaring holes through them.

"So you've come back," Dr. Gilkeson said, walking towards them. "I see you've escaped the wrath of your brother, but you cannot escape me again!"

He extended an arm towards the Demonic Flame and waved it toward Matthew and Wesley. The flame obediently rose into the air and roared as it made its way to the two brothers. With a loud gasp, Wesley threw up his hands over his head and the flame stopped in midair, inches from him and Matthew. Matthew took the time and pushed Wesley out of the flame's path as he dove out of the way himself. The flame abruptly continued its path and hit the group of students behind them. They jerked back violently, but were otherwise unaffected. If anything, the flame only made them more demonic.

Matthew quickly sprang to his feet and sped toward Dr. Gilkeson. He threw a punch that was easily blocked and countered with a sweep that caught him off guard. Matthew flew to the ground, shaken but determined. He jumped up and resumed his fight with Dr. Gilkeson, throwing more punches and blocking more kicks. It wasn't very long before he found himself on the defensive, constantly having to block attacks more than give them.

Wesley had meanwhile gotten up from the ground, but was overwhelmed as he found himself surrounded by the five demonic students. No matter where he turned, there was someone blocking his path. He flicked his hands and the student in front of him froze, prompting him to sigh with relief. It was short-lived, though, as the student's body erupted in a strong flame that broke the effects of Wesley's power. Together, the five of them advanced slowly upon Wesley, who was now just about out of options. He flicked his hands again, this time more forcefully, hoping that the added determination would enhance his powers. The same thing happened, though, as the flame broke through once again.

Matthew barely dodged Dr. Gilkeson's fist as it sailed through the air, just missing his face. He grabbed it and delivered a kick to his foe's side, knocking him backwards. He took the time to regain his composure and a second wind, but in no time Dr. Gilkeson was back, throwing more punches for him to try and avoid. In catching Dr. Gilkeson's foot mid-air, he gasped as his mind filled with images that lasted for less than a second. He shook his head, remembering that he was in the middle of a fight, then realized what had happened. He had just seen his opponent's next move. He threw Dr. Gilkeson's foot down and stepped back, waiting on the signal that would indicate what Dr. Gilkeson was going to do next.

Wesley extended a foot out and kicked one of the students in the chest, knocking them both backwards: the student from the blow and Wesley from the recoil. Wesley fell back into the hands of another student, who grabbed him by the neck and quickly put him in a headlock. Wesley found himself unable to move without hurting his neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the other four students closing in. He closed his eyes and waited for the pain, but instead he found himself standing in front of all five students. He had instinctively glimmered away. He exhaled, thanking his mysterious power for saving him again.

Dr. Gilkeson crouched and disappeared in a ripple. Matthew smiled; this is exactly what Matthew had seen in his premonition. He rounded up all his strength and spun on his heel, transferring all the power he had into his right foot. It smashed into Dr. Gilkeson's jaw just as he was reappearing behind where Matthew would have been standing. The evil professor wrenched back and fell to the ground.

"Freeze him!" Matthew called out to Wesley.


	17. A Brief, But Forgotten, Encounter

_Hello, y'all. Okay, here it is, the penultimate chapter of this story! How exciting, right?_

_**chyp: **Gratefulness._

_**mythica:** Hey there! I did have a good break. Did you? I hope you enjoyed hanging out with your company! They were very nice people; you're lucky to be so close. Anyway, thanx for reading as usual. And my characters aren't that low-level to conjure toilets and junk! Pull it together for the 2006!_

* * *

James unfroze. He examined his surroundings and screamed in a fit of rage from having been frozen by Wesley. He immediately went downstairs, thinking that his brothers would be hiding there. His altered manner of thinking voided all logical reasoning. All he could feel was anger and destruction. He waved his hand forcefully, causing the basement door to fly off its hinges.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are," he said slyly. "You can't hide from me forever."

He walked down the stairs and was taken aback as he saw a woman standing before him, writing something in the Book of Light. They both seemed surprised upon seeing each other, and for a moment they stood there, perplexed.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"You're not supposed to be here," the woman answered.

"You're trying to steal the Book," James concluded.

"No," she said, grabbing the Book of Light. "I've only come to restore it."

"You have no right to touch what doesn't belong to you!" James bellowed as his eyes became completely dark.

He waved his hand and the woman went flying into the air, slamming into a wall. With a flick of his finger, the Book of Light rose into the air and flew towards him. As he caught it, though, a bright light shone as James was magically repelled from it. The woman saw this and held out her hands. The Book of Light suddenly disappeared from in front of James and reappeared in her own hands. She stood up and approached James slowly.

He raised his arm again, but this time she was quicker. She vanished out of the way and reappeared behind him. She tapped him on the shoulder and as he turned around, she kicked him in the groin. He fell to the floor immediately, writing in pain. She gestured toward him and he disappeared, only to reappear in a chair with ropes binding his hands and feet and a blindfold covering his eyes. She walked up to him, ignoring his whimpering, and blew a handful of what appeared to be powder into his face.

"When you wake up," she said in a wispy voice, "you will have no memory of ever having seen me tonight. Your last memory will be just before you came into the basement."

James' cries of pain slowly subsided as he fell into a deep sleep. The woman replaced the Book of Light on its pedestal and soon was gone from the room.

* * *

Wesley reached out and froze Dr. Gilkeson just as he hit the ground. He ran and joined Matthew, who was pulling the paper out of his pocket. They quickly read what was scribbled on it.

"_Reverse the Demonic Flame's polarity.  
Instill within it moral humanity,  
And contact with evil will cause insanity."_

The Demonic Flame seemed to fight with itself as it slowly changed shades from red to white. Meanwhile, Dr. Gilkeson broke out of Wesley's freeze and stood to his feet, breathing heavily. He motioned and the five other students surrounded the two brothers. With his back to the flame, Dr. Gilkeson laughed maniacally.

"It ends now," he said as he raised his hands into the air.

He began chanting again in the same tongue he had been speaking earlier. The flames, now white, roared from their post and engulfed him at his call. Instead of giving him power, they seemed to be taking it away as Dr. Gilkeson yelled in pain. The flames began to literally sear his flesh, blackening it as it began to slowly bubble. Wesley covered his nose as the undesirable stench of melting skin filled the air. The students all collapsed to the ground as a reddish aura shot from their bodies into the flame.

Afterwards, the flame died completely and disappeared, having served its purpose. Matthew and Wesley quickly tended to the students, who were coming to but had no idea what had happened to them or why they were where they were.

"It's kind of hard to explain," Matthew said as Wesley tugged at his shirt. "What is it?"


	18. Back to Normal, Or Something Like It

_We made it! The last chapter of the story! It's always so sad to put up the last chapter because it means I have to start on a new story… It's such hard work…_

_**chyp: **Wow, a review longer than one word! I'm touched! You know, this one time at band camp…_

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Wesley directed Matthew to Dr. Gilkeson's attention. They had witnessed him being burned alive by the flame, but they had turned to the students before seeing this. Dr. Gilkeson was standing there, as clueless as the other students, but looking a lot more normal. His skin showed no trace of having been burned, and his eyes were no longer black, but now a fresh blue color.

"That's a new twist," Matthew commented as he helped Dr. Gilkeson over to the rest of the group.

"Since this happened," Wesley hypothesized, "it must have turned all the people he turned in the first place back, so that must mean that Jimmy's back, too."

"We better get to him," Matthew said, "but first, let's get these people back to where they belong."

It took the better part of the night to find all of the people who had been affected by Dr. Gilkeson's Demonic Flame. Once they had been located, though, Matthew and Wesley explained to them that they had simply hit their heads and that everything they had experienced was a wild hallucination. It took even longer for the brothers to actually convince them, but eventually they got the job done. After sending all the students back to their respective homes, the two of them returned to their own to find it in exactly the same way as it was before. This time, though, James was missing.

"Where do you suppose he is?" Wesley asked. "Hiding?"

"Only one way to find out," Matthew said as he raised his voice. "Jimmy! You home?"

"I heard a noise coming from the basement," Wesley said as James mumbled slightly from the basement, slowly awakening from his sleep.

"Guys?" James asked lazily.

Matthew and Wesley rushed to the basement to find it in a shambles. There was debris everywhere, a definite sign of a fight, but James was the only person in the room. Even stranger was that he was bound and blindfolded to a chair in the middle of the room. Matthew undid his blindfold while Wesley untied the ropes binding him.

"What the hell's going on?" Wesley asked. "What happened to you?"

"Who did this to you?" Matthew added. "You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine," James yawned, "just a little sore. I…I actually don't remember how I got like this. The last thing I remember was standing in the living room. I couldn't move…then I was here."

"That's weird," Wesley said. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Check _this_ out," Matthew said, showing his brothers the Book of Light, its pages now overflowing with words.

"It's back?" Wesley asked, his eyes widening. "How can _that_ be possible?"

"I don't know," Matthew said. "Seems like there's a lot of unexplained things happening around here. From what I can put together, whatever happened to Jimmy must have something to do with the Book being back. Are you sure you can't remember anything, Jimmy?"

"Nothing," James answered.

"Let's just count our blessings," Wesley said. "For once, everything's back to normal and we can get back to doing things like regular people."

"Maybe he's right," James said.

"But didn't Mom and Dad always say that everything happens for a reason?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah," James said, "but I don't think it's always meant for us to understand the reason."

"He said something intelligible," Wesley smiled. "Certainly no way to explain _that_."

"Shut up," James said, pushing Wesley into Matthew.

"Hey," Wesley protested, "what do I look like, a toy? Go find somebody else to play with!"

"Oh my God!" James shouted, looking at his watch. "I had a date today and forgot all about it!"

He jumped up and ran out of the room, leaving Wesley and Matthew to further contemplate who this mystery date was. He ran into his room, wanting to have a little privacy. Wesley would surely be on another phone, secretly listening in on his conversation. He searched his pockets for his cell phone and noticed a slip of paper that fell out. He looked at it; it was pink and scented. He didn't remember having any paper like that. Opening it, he read to himself:

"_Dear You, _

Looks like we both got held up tonight, but don't think it's over yet. I guess we'll have to figure out some other time. I'll be in touch, will you? You know where to find me.

From Me."

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_And that concludes episode 2. As usual, thanx to everyone for reading and/or reviewing! Hopefully I can hit 40 reviews… Episode 3 will be up as soon as I get far enough ahead to keep it going! Stay tuned to find out what happens next!_


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